10.43 lakh votes cast in massive 72 pc turnout on Doda LS seat

Sanjeev Pargal

People in border village of Ladwal in Hiranagar sector turned up in large number to cast votes on Thursday. —Excelsior/Rakesh
People in border village of Ladwal in Hiranagar sector turned up in large number to cast votes on Thursday. —Excelsior/Rakesh

JAMMU, Apr 17: High profile Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat today recorded massive turnout of 72 per cent with 10.43 lakh electorates exercising their right to franchise in a total of 14.55 lakh votes sealing fate of 13 candidates including Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad and his main BJP rival Dr Jitendra Singh.
Despite huge turnout of 72 per cent, which was 27 per cent more than last Lok Sabha election of 2009, the entire election process passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported from any part of six districts, which formed Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat.
“In 2009 general elections, only 45 per cent polling was recorded in Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat,’’ Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Umang Narula told reporters after the polling concluded peacefully in the militancy infested and communally sensitive Parliamentary seat.
“The polling was peaceful in all 2051 polling stations of Lok Sabha seat. No incident of any kind or serious complaint was reported from anywhere,’’ Mr Narula said, adding 69.08 per cent polling was reported till 5 pm.
However, the turnout went up to 72 per cent as per the latest figures received by the Returning Officer of the constituency in Kathua. Reasi district accounted for highest turnout of 82.52 per cent while Ramban district recorded lowest turnout at 64.52 per cent. Gulabgarh Assembly segment in Reasi district accounted for highest turnout of 84 percent while lowest voting percentage was reported from Banihal at 61.49.
Official sources told the Excelsior that out of a total of 14,55,706 electorates for Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat, 10,43,996 votes were polled. Of total votes polled, 5,60,005 were male, 4,83,990 females and Others 1.
District wise voting percentage included Kishtwar (67.35), Doda (70.28), Ramban (64.52), Reasi (82.52), Udhampur (70.81) and Kathua (73.03).
The Assembly segment wise voting percentage was Kishtwar (65.35), Inderwal (69.25), Doda (71.49), Bhaderwah (69.32), Ramban (67.26), Banihal (61.49), Gulabgarh (84), Reasi (81.54). Gool-Arnas (81), Udhampur (75.19), Chenani (70.51), Ramnagar (66.73), Bani (65.79), Basohli (65.70), Kathua (78.29), Billawar (71.21) and Hiranagar (76.64).
Deputy Commissioner, Reasi, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said polling percentage in Reasi stood at 82.52 per cent. He added that police station No. 15 at village Lodhra in Arnas recorded 100 per cent turnout.
The highest number of 3,10,338 votes were polled in five Assembly segments of Kathua district from a total of 4,24,966 followed by 2,09,386 in three Assembly constituencies of Udhampur district from a total of 2,95,687. In Reasi district, 1,88,751 votes were polled from a total of 2,38,113. In Doda district, 1,28,396 votes were polled from a total of 1,82,694 while in Kishtwar district, 1,03,978 votes were cast from out of a total of 1,54,374. In Ramban district, the votes polled were 1,03,147 out of 1,59,872.
The erstwhile Doda district comprising Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts with six Assembly segments accounted for a total of 3,35,521 votes. Kathua and Udhampur districts having eight Assembly seats accounted for 5,19,724 votes. Reasi district with three Assembly constituencies polled 1,88,751 votes.
The highest number of votes in an Assembly segment were polled in Kathua Main (91,384).
One of the 13 contestants for Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat and NPP supremo Prof Bhim Singh was admitted to Chopra Nursing Home this afternoon about two hours before the polling was scheduled to conclude. Doctors said Prof Singh was feeling restlessness but his condition was stable. Prof Singh has contested a number of Lok Sabha elections but never won.
In Kishtwar Assembly segment 49052 votes were polled in a total of 75062 while in Inderwal, 54926 votes were cast from out of a total of 79,312. In Doda segment, 57,845 votes were polled out of 80,917 while in Bhaderwah, 70,551 votes were cast in a total of 1,01,777 votes. In Ramban segment, 56,405 votes were polled from a total of 83,856 while votes polled in Banihal were 46,742 in a total of 76016.
In Gulabgarh, 56111 votes were cast in a total of 68,815, in Reasi, 86039 votes were polled out of 1,08,560 while in Gool-Arnas, 46601 votes were cast from a total of 60,738.
In Udhampur, 78,681 votes were polled from a total of 1,04,642, in Chenani, the votes polled were 60029 out of 85131 while in Ramnagar, 70676 votes were cast out of 1,05,914.
In Bani, 25486 votes were polled from out of 38738 while in Basohli, 48,418 votes were cast out of 73,697. In Kathua proper, the highest number of 91384 votes were polled out of a total of 1,16,728 while in Billawar, 65,639 votes were cast out of 92,182. In Hiranagar, 79411 votes were polled out of 1,03,621.
As against 10,43,996 votes polled on Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat this time, only 6,11,725 votes were cast on the seat in 2009 Parliamentary elections.
Congress leader Lal Singh had won the seat in 2009 polling 2,18,459 votes as against BJP’s Dr Nirmal Singh’s 2,18,459.
Bumper voting in Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat can be well gauged from the fact than during 2009 elections, only 45 per cent votes were cast on this seat while the turnout this time jumped to 72, an increase of 27 per cent. Such was the enthusiasm among the electorates that a large number of people were seen casting their votes even till 7 pm i.e. an hour after the polling was closed. Under the Election Commission’s guidelines, the voters, who enter the polling station by 6 pm, are allowed to cast their votes.
Today’s voting sealed the fate of 13 candidates in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The candidates included Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad (Congress), Dr Jitendra Singh (BJP), Mohammad Arshad Malik (PDP), Prof Bhim Singh (NPP), Dharam Pal Balgotra (BSP), Anil Gupta (JKDF-Independent), Amrit Barsha (Samajwadi Party), Jagdish Kumar (Jai Mahabharath Party), Sham Lal (All J&K Kissan Mazdoor Party), Girdhari Lal (Bharatiya Bahujan Party), Anil Khajuria, Bansi Lal and Nazakat Hussain, all Independents.
Mr Azad was fighting first Lok Sabha election from his home State though he had been a member of Lok Sabha from Washim constituency of Maharashtra in 1980 and 1984. His main rival Dr Jitendra Singh was also fighting first election of his political career.
Mr Narula told the reporters that the Election Commission had installed 337 digital and 132 video cameras for web casting in 68 polling stations of Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat. The polling stations connected with web cam can be watched live by the Election Commission’s Control Room. The process of polling from some of the polling stations can be watched live by the people as well.
He said the Commission had set up 53 model polling stations in the constituency.
The CEO said 2051 polling stations had been set up at 1798 locations of the Lok Sabha seat and, of them, 198 polling stations at 187 locations had been declared as critical and hyper sensitive.
Asserting that Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat was logistically tough with huge area, Mr Narula said it required 45 sorties of MI 17 to airlift 445 personnel at Inshan, Warwan and Dachchan in Kishtwar district to inaccessible polling stations.
He said a total of 6 EVMs  out of a total of 2772 EVMs used for today’s voting had to be replaced due to technical snag. Three EVMs were replaced in Kathua district and one each in Kishtwar, Udhampur and Reasi districts.
To a question, Mr Narula said the people boycotted elections at Vikar polling station in Basohli due to local grievances.
Hailing the voters for huge turnout in both Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha constituencies, which have gone to polls so far in first two phases of Jammu and Kashmir, the CEO hoped for good response of electorates in remaining four seats of Lok Sabha including all three seats of the Kashmir Valley.
He attributed the huge turnout to massive awareness campaign launched by the Election Commission.
On steps taken by the Election Commission for good turnout in the Kashmir Valley, where boycott threat looms large in some areas, Mr Narula said the Commission would launch similar voter awareness campaign, which they had done in Jammu seats to ensure that the people turned out to cast their votes.
On security arrangements for the elections in Kashmir, he said it would be based in accordance with the needs. “The deployment of security personnel would be adequate,’’ he added.
The voter turnout figures revealed that more male voters turned up to cast their votes in all but one Assembly segments of Udhampur-Doda district. Basohli Assembly constituency in Kathua district was the only segments, where more female voters (24,403) cast their votes as against male (24015). In rest all 16 Assembly constituencies, the more male votes were polled.
Authorities had made tight security arrangements along the International Border in Hiranagar sector to ensure peaceful polling as the area had witnessed two fidayeen attacks on March 28, 2014 and September 26, 2014 in which 13 persons including Army and police personnel and civilians were killed. Six fidayeens were killed in two attacks.
However, the attacks failed to deter the villagers living in the border areas in Hiranagar sector and surroundings. The people unafraid of the terror attacks had turned up in large number in the border areas to cast their votes. Some of the polling stations in the border areas recorded 80 per cent turnout.
The polling also passed off peacefully in the militancy infested districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban with no untoward incident reported from any area, sources said.
“There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the constituency,” DGP Jammu and Kashmir, Ashok Prasad told reporters in Udhampur.
When asked about the protests from Special Police officers, the DGP said some SPOs had requested for voting in their respective areas and the issue was resolved.
In areas spread over Reasi district, nomadic voters registered a turnout of 80 per cent compared to 23 per cent in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, officials said, adding that out of 1,92,984 voters in the district nearly 58,000 are nomadic Bakerwals and Gujjars who migrate to highland pastures in March every year.
As per figures, the tribal turnout went up to 78 per cent and was expected to cross 85 per cent, he said adding that more than 47,816 nomadic voters turned out at respective polling stations to exercise their franchise.
The official termed it as an outcome of awareness and enrolment campaign “Jirga” which was organised at 94 tribal dominated polling stations. Around 8,000 new nomads enrolled and 134 camps organised by district administration as run up to Lok Sabha elections, he said.
“Migration of nomads will start from tomorrow, which was delayed by more than a month on intervention of district administration,” he said.

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